RomanPunks is a retrofuturistic, cyberpunk derivative world-building project inspired by fine art, history and the cryptopunk movement.
A total of 1,000 RomanPunk characters have been frozen in time and minted as Non Fungible Tokens (NFTs) on the Ethereum, WAX, Polygon and Algorand blockchains.
RomanPunk characters are comprised of commoners and famous individuals based on Roman history, art history and pop culture.
The basis for RomanPunk lore and backstories is exhaustively researched by history/sci-fi buff and co-founder, Punktavian.
All images are drawn by hand by woman artist and co-founder, Cleopunktra, without the aid of AI or generative tools.
RomanPunks came into existence through early minting on OpenSea, promoting on Twitter and building a Discord community through giveaways and engagement. The idea of a cyberpunk-derivative ‘RomanPunk’ theme was in our heads for years, but it was the success of the Cryptopunks that became the catalyst for project conception and launch.
After a hard working first 60 days spent networking and attracting new collectors to RomanPunks, our community had begun to flourish and sales increased. We began to offer our collectors an opportunity to battle their NFTs in a tournament bracket powered by dice rolls.
Encouraged by the tight knit community and the carbon-neutral blockchain with lightning fast and low cost transactions, we launched 'romanpunksio' collection on WAX Blockchain as the first step to expand the backstories of our RomanPunk characters and the baseline for future development of a card game.
RomanPunks integrated with Chainlink Labs to utilize VRF (Verified Randomness Function) to host a giveaway raffle for our holders. We developed a smart contract on Ethereum which guarantees true random number selection on chain and can be used for a wide range of functions that require random selection.
After much anticipation in the community, we released our first WAX NFT card 'pack' through the Neftyblocks platform, which sold out in less than a week.
We launched our Twitch channel and begun building an audience by offering numerous giveaways of WAX NFTs from our collection, as well as giving participants a chance to win RomanPunk ETH NFT airdrops for taking top spot at the end of the 'season'.
As firm believers in a metaverse future and land owners in The Sandbox, we undertook to build the RomanPunk Colosseum on 1x1 land and entered our experience "Gladiator Bloodsport" into a GameJam contest. We will continue to build the Colosseum into a PVP arena and social hub once The Sandbox offers creators the ability to do so.
Thanks to the user friendly tools offered by NeftyBlocks, we launched a comprehensive blending system on WAX, allowing our collectors to blend the common NFTs they earn in our Discord RPG up into Legendary famous NFTs through the use of blending 'coins' that can also be earned on the Discord as reward for helping to promote the RomanPunks project.
We launched the VX collection on Polygon. Each owner of an ETH NFT gets their voxel equivalent airdropped to them, and these NFTs can be redeemed for official NFTs on The Sandbox Marketplace once available.
All 1,000 original, unique 1:1 RomanPunk characters hand drawn by Cleopunktra and minted on OpenSea.
The RomanPunk WAX NFT Trading Card Fighter Pack Series II consists of 3 NFTs randomly selected from over 236 characters.
Upcoming plans for RomanPunks include:
Below is a comprehensive and searchable directory of all 1,000 RomanPunk Characters.
Born 2175 AD in Alexandria, Aker is a clerical assistant at the Library of Alexandria Innovation Hub where researchers have developed the “Giza Glasses”, a groundbreaking AR technology that enables wearers to temporarily inhabit bodies across dimensions. Night after night, Aker sneaks into the library’s vault to use the glasses, immersing himself in the lives of ancient pharaohs to experience firsthand the splendor and challenges of divine rule.
Born 2015 AD in Cagliari, Sienna is a free-spirited navigator with a deep love for the sea and folklore. Seeking adventure beyond her coastal roots, she joined her lover, Kael Adrien, on a voyage across the Tyrrhenian Sea. An interdimensional whirlpool transported them to an alternate Roman realm ruled by sentient apes. In this bewildering world, Sienna must rely on her courage and resourcefulness to navigate a society where humans are oppressed. Forming secret alliances and using her knowledge of ancient lore, she challenges the dominant ape hierarchy alongside Kael, striving to survive and find a path back home.
Born 420 AD in Ostia, Bluto is a Bacchanalian degenerate and former slave who gained his freedom by blackmailing his treasonous master who also allowed Bluto to hold an endless toga party in his expansive villa, which lasted until this Broski perished of alcohol poisoning and an overdose of the munchies.
Born 1969 AD in Lugdunum, Vivienne is a 42x Olympic shooting gold medalist and undefeated Universal Laser Tag League (ULTL) champion. A household name across galaxies and dimensions, she is known for her ironclad mettle and heart of stainless steel.
Born in 349 AD in Ephesus, Dag lived his life plundering cities and towns across Asia, so it was only natural that he continue his reign of terror after falling through a crevasse and portaling to a distant future alternate dimension.
Roland, born 389 AD in Burdigala, was an optio in the legion before his capture by the invading Visigoths who sentenced him to pass through an interdimensional portal to a Romanesque 1987 AD where he fights as a shopping mall gladiator.
Born in 51 BC in Gaetulia, Wisi Yende, a footsoldier in the army of the Musulamii tribe, was abducted by aliens during a Sahara desert sandstorm and pressed into service to fight a cyberwar in a distant future dimension.
Born 379 BC in Pella, Electra taught Alexander the Great about killing and lovemaking until his jealous mother, Polyxena, had her cast into a pit of vipers and erased from history. Legend has it that she escaped through a subterranean interdimensional portal.
Born 55 BC in Chang’an, Kai Ren is the Qin Emperor’s first daughter and ancestral brain of the Xinhan Megacorp, a hegemonic power operated by an AI hive mind. Held hostage by time traffickers in 2411 AD Neo-Byzantium, she spends her time playing ancient CRPGs and denigrating her cyborg servant jailers.
Born in 162 AD in Olisipo, Tuouta led a contubernium that was believed to be lost at sea when in fact their ship was sucked through an interdimensional portal, placing them in the Gulf of Mexico where they befriended a technologically advanced Aztec society.
Born in 255 BC in Hecatompylos, Helya, a direct descendant of Alexander the Great, was a Parthian emissary who learned martial arts in China, later becoming a great warrior who singlehandedly rooted out and eliminated a cohort of dimension hopping alien invaders.
Born 1955 AD in Tolosa, Ricki is a hairdresser, gossip, and fan of Italo disco who mixed up her cell phone for an interdimensional portal device and was transferred to the 1st century AD where she continues to cut hair and spread rumours in the public baths.
Born in 109 BC in Coracesium, Calypso was an infamous pirate queen who wreaked havoc on Roman shipping until she was captured by Pompey and sentenced to fight in the gladiator pits of Rome.
Born in 116 BC in Tarsus, Levona is a lover and lieutenant of Pompey the Great who helped pacify Cilicia for the Romans. Levona traveled through the interdimensional portal in the Temple of Tarsus, seeking futuristic weapons and intel that could support Pompey in his civil war against Julius Caesar.
Born 25 BC in Tavium, Nyssa is a skilled seamstress and reveled in creating elaborate costumes for herself and others to wear at masked soirees. She was known for her ethereal beauty and her ability to transform into any character – past, present or future.
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© 2023 RomanPunks NFT
romanpunks@protonmail.ch
Registered in Ontario, Canada
